Which resets first, ARLU or GMAR?

ARLU ends its outcome period on Mar 31, 2027 and GMAR on Mar 19, 2027. New terms are set the day after each.

Which is cheaper, ARLU or GMAR?

ARLU charges 0.74% a year and GMAR charges 0.85%, so ARLU is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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ARLU vs GMAR: Cap, Buffer & Days Left

As of Oct 13, 2026 ARLU can fall 13.5% before its buffer engages and GMAR 9.5%, and GMAR resets 12 days sooner. Net assets on Oct 13, 2026: $56m for AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped ETF - Apr and $428m for FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - March.

ARLU costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.4 points; GMAR is 7.6 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

ARLU vs GMAR: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
	ARLU	GMAR
Expense ratio	0.74%	0.85%
Net assets	$56m	$428m
Total return, 1 year	+11.0%	+13.4%
What it tracks	SPY	SPY
Holdings in common	not published
Index fall to the buffer	16.4%	16.6%

13.5%

ARLU can fall this far before its buffer

9.5%

GMAR can fall this far before its buffer

uncapped

ARLU can still gain

3.3%

GMAR can still gain

ARLUNo cap

ARLU: reference +19.6% since period start, fund +14.6%; buffer 0 to −15; no cap; No cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.

GMARAt its cap

GMAR: reference +20.0% since period start, fund +9.6%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +14.1%; At its cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.

Figures to Oct 13, 2026.

ETFIQ Downside Cover Score · GMAR scores higherIf the market falls into a bear market from here, how much does the buffer absorb?

ARLU 4.6

GMAR 49.1

0.2, the lowest in this set99.8, the highest

A percentile among the 292 buffer ETFs on stocks with a live outcome period. Today's position against one 20% fall; it ignores smaller falls, and stock buffers are never ranked against bond or commodity ones. All buffer ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →

GMAR is already at its cap, so more rise in the index adds nothing to it before the period ends.

Where each one stands today

GMAR resets first, on Mar 19, 2027, 157 days from now; ARLU runs to Mar 31, 2027, 169 days. A fall from here reaches ARLU’s buffer after 13.5% and GMAR’s after 9.5%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.

Performance, window by window

Performance, window by window: ARLU vs GMAR: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
	Total return		Gap to the reference's price return
Window	ARLU	GMAR	ARLU	GMAR
3 months	+2.6%	+2.4%	−0.9 pts	−1.1 pts
6 months	+9.6%	+5.8%	−2.5 pts	−6.3 pts
1 year	+11.0%	+13.4%	−6.3 pts	−3.9 pts
3 years	not published	+42.7%	not published	−37.6 pts
Since launch Not the same days: ARLU Apr 2024 · GMAR Mar 2023	+31.7%	+52.4%	−17.3 pts	−45.2 pts

Each fund's gap is to its reference's price return, dividends left out: the basis the outcome period uses. Source: ETFIQ. Open this comparison in the app →

On the same fields

ARLU

AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped ETF - Apr · Absorbs the first 15% of loss on SPY and does not cap the gain, over a period ending Mar 31, 2027

GMAR

FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - March · Absorbs the first 15% of loss on SPY and caps the gain at 14.1%, over a period ending Mar 19, 2027

Issuer AllianzIM First Trust

Reference index SPY SPY

Buffer 15% 15%

Outcome period Apr 1, 2026 to Mar 31, 2027 Mar 23, 2026 to Mar 19, 2027

Days left 169 157

Starting cap uncapped +14.1%

Can still gain uncapped 3.3%

Fall before buffer 13.5% 9.5%

Protection left, index points 15.0% of 15.0% 15.0% of 15.0%

Index return this period +19.6% +20.0%

Fund return this period +14.6% +9.6%

State today Uncapped At cap

Expense ratio 0.74% 0.85%

Net assets $56m $428m

As of Oct 13, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About ARLU

This fund has no cap. It takes a share of any further rise in SPY. The fund's price can fall 13.5% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 16.4% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 15.0% of the 15.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 169 days remained on Oct 13, 2026. On Mar 31, 2027 the period ends and new terms are set.

About GMAR

SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +14.1% for the period on Oct 13, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 3.3% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 9.5% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 16.6% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. 157 days remained on Oct 13, 2026. On Mar 19, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.

Questions people ask

Which resets first, ARLU or GMAR?: ARLU ends its outcome period on Mar 31, 2027 and GMAR on Mar 19, 2027. New terms are set the day after each.
Which is cheaper, ARLU or GMAR?: ARLU charges 0.74% a year and GMAR charges 0.85%, so ARLU is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

ARLU vs XMAR ARLU vs UAPR ARLU vs FMAR ARLU vs XBAP GMAR vs FLAO GMAR vs DDFA GMAR vs PBAP GMAR vs MARM

SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust →ARLU on its own →GMAR on its own →How every figure is computed →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

ARLU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗AllianzIM page for ARLU ↗GMAR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗First Trust page for GMAR ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

It is a place in a set, not a rating or a recommendation.

ETFIQ calculates every figure from each issuer’s published outcome-period terms. Buffer ETFs hold options on an index, not shares, so there is no holdings overlap to report.

Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, ARLU against GMAR, data as of Oct 13, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/arlu-vs-gmar

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.